thelegion | [Video]

[The image is shaky at first, since he's holding it. A moment later and the image stabilizes and becomes much more than a chin or pair of nostrils. Stephen comes into view, he's wearing a red cloak with a high collar but it isn't his cloak and he's pretty miffed she didn't get pulled into this universe.]

Hello, everyone, I figure it's best to see if there's anyone I know here. New arrival, Doctor Stephen Strange, if that name rings a bell I congratulate you. That means you're alive and well because I was probably your Doctor. You're welcome.

[He waves a yellow-gloved hand. Underneath they were scarred and ached in certain temperatures, so he figured it'd be best to protect them in this manner.]

Now I've done this whole multiverse song-and-dance deal before. If I'd had the foresight to bring the Eye of Agamotto with me I could have taken care of your little problem. Chronoblivion? Been there, done that.

[He gets a dark look, and shakes it off. That sound exactly like Dormammu and he wouldn't be surprised if that simply was what they called him in this universe.]

Too many times.

Plus, what's the deal with giant world-eating entities? Do they have a club or something? Is it like what they do for fun since they're all bored in their dimensions?

Anyway. I decided to join your little group of Legionaires. I can't use magic here for some reason, but apparently I can still do some things. It's a little different from what I'm used to, but it's nice not having to worry about losing your sling ring.

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[A long pause, then a loud, slightly uncontrollable laugh.]

Me? Sorcerer Supreme? That's a good one. If it would be anyone I thought Wong would take it up, or Mordo if he hadn't left us.

[He grew quiet a moment.]

You're serious.

...Yeah?

[She knows next to nothing about all the magical-type infighting, she just knows Strange shows up with the cloak and the Eye and portentous phrases that don't actually mean anything are spoken and stuff blows up.]

The Time Trapper must've caught you really early.

Holy fish sticks, Nita, I think this means you've got seniority over Doctor Strange.

[Yeah, he's gonna need a moment. Even though he's personally manipulated time itself didn't mean that being yanked into the future was something he was going to get over in a couple minutes.]

Apparently so.

[From nearly every conversation he's had so far these people have recognized him so it was safe to day at some point he likely was going to be Sorcerer Supereme someday, or at the very least a bit famous. Well, moreso. Moreso than he already was in his field and to the medical community.]

Ignore Robbie, he finds it physically painful to take anything seriously. Robbie, he's new at this, don't make it worse.

[Big sister Nita is in full effect. Brace for after school special.]

Anyway, I'm Nita Prentiss, and my universe's version of you is a friend of the family. It's nice to meet you.

[Nita smiles--she does that a lot, and they always seem sincere--and waves at the camera.]

[He was beginning to get a sort of feeling like he stumbled upon someone's big family dinner, only to find out he was a long-lost something or the other by three or four marriages and was subsequently being introduced to every last living relative. Just what exactly did his alternate self--or at least one of them--get himself into?]

Nice to meet you, Nita. Again in your case, I suppose.

You're very similar, but you're not the same person.

[She's firm on that. Nita has the feeling he's going to be judged against the standard of a much older Stephen Strange, and found wanting, and that's not fair.]

There are an infinite number of universes, so if you don't run into duplicates once in a while, you're living a very sheltered life. You're a vast improvement on the last time this happened to me.

[Evil AU. Those are the worst.]

Edited 2016-12-06 05:52 (UTC)

[Hmm, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Not enough information either way. Still, she was nice, so there was that.]

So you're an old hat at this? What happened to you?

What, recently?

[She's a legacy character; she was born into this crap.]

So, that pep talk Richie gave you?

[Yes, she's using "pep talk" ironically.]

I was around for the bit with the Many-Angled Ones and cosmic abstracts he was talking about. I kinda accidentally time-traveled as part of a grudge match this guy with a cosmic artifact was having with a future version of himself, and landed in the middle of Richie's interdimensional war.

[Ain't even mad. Apparently, it saved her life.]

Turns out a man who was deeply decent and noble in my universe had a twin in another universe who, well, not so much. He sold his soul on his deathbed to avoid the whole "death" part. Long story short, it let in your standard mind-bending evil from beyond space and time or whatever, which infected everyone else in that universe, they killed Death, and then they decided it was time to expand into neighboring universes because when you destroy the concept of death, real estate starts to fill up fast.

Sooooo a bunch of very nasty versions of people I know and like showed up and it sucked utterly.

[She makes a "what're ya gonna do?" face and shrugs.]

[Was he ever going to get used to this crazy world he'd fallen into once he knocked on the door of Kamar-Taj?

Maybe someday, but jeez...he nods and tries his best to look as sympathetic as possible instead of shocked or confused.]

That sucks. I assume everything worked out okay in the end.

[A version of Dr. Strange just said "sucks" without any audible quotation marks around the word.

Wow, there really are infinite universes.]

Well, we won. It cost us a lot, though.

[She goes from nonchalant to solemn quickly, but doesn't mention Rich is one of the people who died. If he didn't mention it, it's not her place to.]

[As his grandma used to say, some days it sucks to be Strange.]

Good. Victories, unfortunately, sometimes do.

[The last one cost him the Ancient One and Mordo's friendship. But he saved the world, so there was that.]

[Nita was raised in a very honor-centric, warlike culture, and understands instinctively that your devotion to something is measured in what you're willing to sacrifice for it. That doesn't make the sacrifice easy.]

In magic more than in most things, they tell me.

[She's actually pretty perceptive when she wants to be. Which is rarely, as a rule.]

[A worried look.]

It makes me wonder if the price I have to pay for saving my world...is being sent here. The bill comes due, as they say.

I think it's probably just your standard ineffable cosmic entity shenanigans.

[That...does not seem to be sarcasm.]

Doesn't seem like it has enough of a poetic sting in the tail for magic, y'know?

That's even less reassuring. Nice to know I have some cosmic bill waiting for me to pay up when and if I return home.

For all you know, it's getting stuck as Sorcerer Supreme. "Hey, you're really good at this 'saving the world' thing, how about we make it your official job?"

[That's totally how cosmic entities talk, clearly.]

It's like how you should never volunteer for anything unless you want to be in charge of it forever.

I would not even be the smallest bit surprised if that's how it's going to go.

I take some stuff seriously. Crunchy vs smooth Jif - tsk tsk very serious business. Ketchup on steak: Genius or the great American folly? Quik or Yoohoo. Dave Matthews Band.

[ He'll take proving your point for 100, Nita. ]

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i am so sorry about nita's life

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